Fastener



F. H. GARRIGUS FASTENER Filed June 6, 1921 Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

UNETED TET OFFICE.

rais n; ennnreus or BRISTOL, oonnno'rrour, nssrenon ro THE, PLAINVILLE MANUFACTURING co urnny, OF LAINVIL E, connncrrounz, A conronnrron or co-NNnorIc 'r.

FASTENER.

Application filed June 6, 1921. Serial No. 475,280.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. GARRIGUS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bristol, county of Hartford, State of (Jonnecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Fastener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fasteners, and is particularly applicable to fasteners for trunks, suit-cases and the like, my primary object being to provide strength and ease of operation. To this end, and also to improve generally upon devices of the character indicated, my invention consists in the various matters hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a fastener embodying my invention, one of the plates being partially broken away; Figure 2 is a crosssection on about the central vertical line of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective of the lever-member; Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan on about the line 44L of Figure 2; and Figure 5 shows a portion of the blank for the lever-member.

Referring now more particularly to these drawings, 1 and 2 indicate the usual supporting or back plates adapted to be fastened, respectively, to the lid and body of a trunk, suit-case, or the like; 8 indicates the customary bail-seat secured to the back plate 1 and provided with the usual dowel 4; 5 the customary socket-piece secured to the back-plate 2 and adapted to receive the dowel 4; 6 the leveremember, having the usual bail 7 pivoted thereto and adapted to engage the bail-seat 3 and to be disengaged therefrom in the usual manner; 8 indicates the finger piece of the levermember; and 9 the flat spring for engaging the lip 10 of the lever-member and yieldingly holding such lever-member in open or closed position; this general structure as thus far de scribed being old and well understood and (except the bail) being made of sheet metal. But fasteners of this character as heretofore constructed have developed an element of weakness along the line at which the lip portion joins the body of the lever-member and the pintle 11 ivbtau connects such lever-member ,to the socket-piece. 7

According to my inventionthe side wings 12 of the lever-member extend into the" socket-piece 5, lying adjacent but inside of the side walls 13 ofthe socket-piece, and the lip 10 and these side wings 12 areconnected at the corners by webs 14, the pintle 11 exthe lever-member blank as shown in Figure 5, that is to say,'by providing the web material 14 at the sides of the lipportion 10 and extending beyond the lines orthe folds,'

a2, and by then slightly drawing these .web portions as the blank is drawn, or stamped into the form of the lever-member, as shown in Figure 3. Thus webs 14 integral with the 11p 10 and wings 12 and front piece. 15 of the lever-member are provided and these webs securely tie the lip 10 to the remainder of the lever member, while the pintle 11 passes through openings 16. in the wings 12 below the Webs and any such Weakness as by folding the metal to produce a pintle-socket is obviated. In this way the lever-member 6 can be readily and inexpensively manufactured of sheet metal, is cheaply and easily assembled with the socket-piece, is operable in the usual and well-understood manner, and yet possesses great strength at the point of pintle connection and with respect to the lip which bears the pressure of the spring 9, so that cracking and tearing of the lip from the body portion of the lever-member 6 is guarded against;

Preferably the bottom plate 17 of the lever-member 6 is also produced by drawing the material from the blank. A. lever-memher having its wings 12 thus integrally tied to the bottom 17, front 15 and lip 10 afl'ords very great strength, However, if desired for ease of manufacture or otherwise, the blank can have an extending portion long enough to produce both the bottom 17 and the finger piece 8 by mere stamping, thus eliminating the drawing of the material to produce the bottom 17.

I also prefer to round. the free edge 18 of the lip 10, as particularly indicated in F igure 4, so that this edge will engage the fiat spring 9 at substantially only one point.

This enables the spring to properly hold the lever-member in either its closed or open position and yet permits the lever-member to be easily swung into either such position without the undue friction which would result from engagement of a straight edge of the lip across the whole width of the spring.

Thus, my present fastener is one readily made, operates in the usual and well known manner, and yet permits especial ease of operation and affords great strength to the lever-member, particularly at the portions subjected to the greatest strain, that is, at the pintle connection and the juncture of the lip with the body portion.

' c I claim 1. In a fastener of the character indicated, a socket-piece having sides, a spring, a levermember having side wings received in said socket-piece between the said sides thereof, a lip upon said lever-member and cooperating with said spring, webs connecting said lip with said side wings, and pintle connection between said wings and said socketpiece sides; substantially as described.

2. In a fastener of the character indicated,

a socket-piece having sides, a spring, a levern-anber having side wings received in said socket-piece between the said sides thereof, a

lip upon said lever-member and cooperating with said spring, webs connecting sald 11p with said side wings, and a pintle connected to said sides and passing through openlngs in said wings below said webs; substantially as described.

3. In a fastener of the character indicated,

a spring, and a lever-member having a portion engaging said spring, one of said engaging elements having a rounded surface in such engagement; substantially as described.

4. A lever-member of the character indicated, havingside wings, and a lip connected to said wings by webs; substantially as described.

5. A lever-member of the character indicated, having side wings, and a lip connected to said wings by webs drawn from the material and at the corners at which the said lip and wings join; substantially as described. I

6. A lever-member of the character indicated, having a front piece, side wings, and a lip extending from said front piece and connected to said wings by webs; substantially as described.

7. A lever-member ofthe character indicated, having side wings, and a lip connected to saidwings by webs, and pintleopenings in said wings below said webs; substantially as described.

I 8. A lever-member of the character indicated, having a front portion, side-wing portions extending at an angle to said front portion, and a lip portion also extending at an angle tosaid front portion, said lip portion having at its ends integral connection with said side-wing portions; substantially as described. 7

' In testimony whereof I hereunto my Signature.

FRANK H. GARRIGUS. 

